Study on the diversification of jaw shape in pelagiarian/scombriform fishes led by @knapprew.bsky.social out in Evolution Letters as Editor's Choice. Gorgeous trichiuroid render by co-author @sternarchella.bsky.social nabbed the cover! Open access: academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Delighted that our article on pelagiarian mandible evolution has made the cover of @evolletters.bsky.social!

Check out our Editor’s Choice article academic.oup.com/evlett/artic... by @knapprew.bsky.social et al showing the K/Pg adaptive radiation in open-ocean fish in jaw morphology. With this amazing micro-CT image of the deep-sea black scabbardfish on the cover, by @sternarchella.bsky.social

Historical contingency limits adaptive diversification in a spatially structured environment @evolletters.bsky.social from @megbehri.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Is speciation usually allopatric? Genomic analyses of 93 Drosophila species pairs show that gene flow during divergence is common—even among allopatric species—challenging the classic allopatric model of speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Is speciation usually allopatric? Genomic analyses of 93 Drosophila species pairs show that gene flow during divergence is common—even among allopatric species—challenging the classic allopatric model of speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

New paper out: “allopatric” Drosophila species aren’t so allopatric after all. We show that most currently allopatric species pairs probably overlapped in the past and exchanged genes at levels similar to sympatric pairs. @evolletters.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evle... [1/6]

Is lifespan shaped by genetic conflict between the sexes? In wild marmots, longevity is heritable but negatively genetically correlated between males and females, implying selection for longer life in one sex favors shorter life in the other. Image Credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Does predictability matter for adaptation? In fruit flies, predictable thermal variation favors evolved longevity, while unpredictable environments impose survival and reproductive costs—revealing distinct routes to adaptation under climate change. Image: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Do alternative reproductive tactics promote evolutionary rescue? Riederer & Weissing show that claims for ART rescue depend on model assumptions—when thresholds evolve or mating success shifts, fixed tactics no longer prevent extinction leaving the question open. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

How does development shape skull evolution? In lizards, neural crest–derived skull bones drive rapid sexually selected shape change within species but show long-term constraint, revealing developmental bias linking micro- and macroevolution. Image Credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Evolution isn’t always forward-looking. Experiments show that an early, beneficial mutation can trap E. coli on a local fitness peak, preventing ecotype diversification in structured environments and highlighting the role of G×E interactions. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Can sexual selection alone drive divergence? Experimental evolution in seed beetles shows that strong sexual selection accelerates divergence in reproductive traits and gene expression, even without environmental differences. Image credit: Udo Schmidt Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Why has live birth evolved repeatedly in lizards? A mechanistic model linking behavior, thermal physiology, and life history shows cold climates favor viviparity, providing causal support for the classic cold-climate hypothesis. Image credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Can microbial partners reduce agrochemical harm? In clover–rhizobia mutualisms, herbicide effects depend strongly on rhizobial strain, highlighting symbionts as potential buffers against stress. Image Matt Lavin @wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Who really lives fast and dies young? In Drosophila, females show faster ageing and reproductive senescence than males across social environments, overturning sexual selection predictions and highlighting social effects on ageing. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... @laurenmharrison.bsky.social

Why is phenotypic plasticity so common? Models show that even low migration between locally adapted populations can maintain costly plasticity in constant environments, revealing migration as a key driver of plastic trait evolution. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Why do selfing rates vary across a species’ range? In alpine monkeyflower, self-fertilization increases away from the range center, supporting the abundant center hypothesis over historical range expansion in shaping reproductive assurance. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... Photo Credit: Brewbooks

Can we predict gene expression evolution? In flour beetles, transcriptome-wide selection predicts expression change, with indirect selection acting strongest on pleiotropic, network-central genes—linking co-expression architecture to adaptation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic... Photo: Udo Schmidt

How do genetic variances and covariances evolve over deep time? This paper unifies quantitative genetics and macroevolution with analytical models for G-matrix evolution on phylogenies, enabling new tests of multivariate trait evolution. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Do extra chromosome sets mask bad mutations? Simulations show tetraploids often carry higher genetic load than diploids, depending on dominance, demography, and drift—with important implications for fitness and conservation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Surprisingly, sperm length is not linked to sperm storage traits. Instead, vagina length emerges as a key—yet overlooked—player in post-copulatory sexual selection in birds. academic.oup.com/evlett/article/9/6/686/8271462

Maternal age matters beyond early survival. This study shows persistent effects on male—but not female—offspring fitness in a wild mammal population. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Early-season helping in Polistes wasps shows increasing returns - more helpers lead to convex gains in sexual productivity, resolving a key paradox in the origins of eusociality. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic... @ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social

Seasonal adaptation leaves genome-wide signatures across all traits, while food quality drives narrower, oligogenic responses—showing populations can track multiple environmental axes at once. Now out in Evolution Letters academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Is lifespan shaped by genetic conflict between the sexes? In wild marmots, longevity is heritable but negatively genetically correlated between males and females, implying selection for longer life in one sex favors shorter life in the other. Image Credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Does predictability matter for adaptation? In fruit flies, predictable thermal variation favors evolved longevity, while unpredictable environments impose survival and reproductive costs—revealing distinct routes to adaptation under climate change. Image: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Do alternative reproductive tactics promote evolutionary rescue? Riederer & Weissing show that claims for ART rescue depend on model assumptions—when thresholds evolve or mating success shifts, fixed tactics no longer prevent extinction leaving the question open. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

How relaxed preferences facilitate the evolution of novel animal signals doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Gabrielle T Welsh et al.

Sick of bad dates? Try sensing their microbiome. New work in Evolution Letters by Tourani et al. found that endosymbionts change male thrips’ chemical profiles, allowing females to pick compatible partners. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

How does development shape skull evolution? In lizards, neural crest–derived skull bones drive rapid sexually selected shape change within species but show long-term constraint, revealing developmental bias linking micro- and macroevolution. Image Credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Evolution isn’t always forward-looking. Experiments show that an early, beneficial mutation can trap E. coli on a local fitness peak, preventing ecotype diversification in structured environments and highlighting the role of G×E interactions. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Can sexual selection alone drive divergence? Experimental evolution in seed beetles shows that strong sexual selection accelerates divergence in reproductive traits and gene expression, even without environmental differences. Image credit: Udo Schmidt Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

New signals thrive when females aren't picky. Relaxed pickiness allowed novel purr and rattle songs to become established in Hawaiian crickets. New work by @robinmting.bsky.social @gwelsh.bsky.social in Evolution Letters. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

The K/Pg extinction created a buffet for open-ocean fishes. A new paper shows that Pelagiaria underwent an adaptive radiation following the extinction based on new jaw shapes to fill the vacuum @knapprew.bsky.social @evoswami.bsky.social @sternarchella.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Infrared thermography is a useful tool in research on thermoregulation and evolution of heat tolerance doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Erik I Svensson et al.

Why has live birth evolved repeatedly in lizards? A mechanistic model linking behavior, thermal physiology, and life history shows cold climates favor viviparity, providing causal support for the classic cold-climate hypothesis. Image credit: Wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Can microbial partners reduce agrochemical harm? In clover–rhizobia mutualisms, herbicide effects depend strongly on rhizobial strain, highlighting symbionts as potential buffers against stress. Image Matt Lavin @wikimedia academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Talk I gave about our recent Evolution Letters paper, in which we quantified the benefits of helping at the origin of eusociality using a combination of experiment & theory, at the @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting in Leuven this week! Powerpoint here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4w3hw...

Gestation length both shapes and is shaped by other life history traits in terrestrial eutherian mammals doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Thodoris Danis et al.

Pleiotropy increases with gene age in six model multicellular eukaryotes doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Reese Martin and Ann T Tate

Horizontal gene transfer, segregation loss, and the speed of microbial adaptation doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by David V McLeod and Sylvain Gandon

Alignment across taxonomic levels in strategies rather than in traits along elevational gradients doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Aaditya Narasimhan & Yvonne Willi 📷: Kevin Thiele

Temperature can reverse sexual conflict, facilitating population growth doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Roberto García-Roa et al.

An early-life survival and reproductive trade-off shapes selection on body size doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Maria João Janeiro et al. 📷: Sam Whitfield

Temporal dynamics and adaptiveness of thermal phenotypic plasticity in a ciliate doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Léonard Dupont et al.

New paper alert! 📜 200 gen of strong sexual selection in beetles 🪲 causes divergent evolution of male and female traits, possibly through more divergent expression of reproductive proteins . Work by Arnqvist group. Check it out 👇 academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... #evolution

Who really lives fast and dies young? In Drosophila, females show faster ageing and reproductive senescence than males across social environments, overturning sexual selection predictions and highlighting social effects on ageing. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... @laurenmharrison.bsky.social

Why is phenotypic plasticity so common? Models show that even low migration between locally adapted populations can maintain costly plasticity in constant environments, revealing migration as a key driver of plastic trait evolution. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Why do selfing rates vary across a species’ range? In alpine monkeyflower, self-fertilization increases away from the range center, supporting the abundant center hypothesis over historical range expansion in shaping reproductive assurance. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... Photo Credit: Brewbooks